A gene therapy for a rare disease is unlikely to come cheap, so one fledgling biotech recently reached out to experts for insights into winning over cost-conscious hospitals. And to lure these experts to a so-called advisory meeting, the company used an enticing pitch — each attendee would be given a $3,000 honorarium, along with paid airfare and lodging for two-day session in November.
However, AveXis (AVXS) dangled something else: The compensation would not be reported to a federal database to which industry must submit payments made to physicians. Known as OpenPayments, the database was launched three years ago in response to concerns that medical practice and research may be unduly influenced by financial relationships between doctors and drug and device makers.
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Interesting end comment – “this could be the basis for updating the law.” Given the current attitude toward regulations, which other regulation would need to be abolished to allow this change?